MY THOUGHTS

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Friday, February 16, 2018

Many, in fact, most Nigerians
apparently believe in some sort of tacit conspiracy among successive
generations of Nigerian top politicians, high-ranking government officials and
their associates in the private sector to perpetuate monopoly and manipulation
of power and other sources of influence. This, in turn, has given rise to the
widespread belief in the existence of a systematic class dichotomy in the country.

This belief is so
deep-rooted that it’s repeatedly insinuated and even expressly asserted in
academic lecture halls, newspaper columns, social media posts and, of course, mai-shayi
and other roadside joints. In fact, even those who claim to never believe in
conspiracy theory do unconsciously make subtle yet clear assertions confirming
their belief in the existence of this dichotomy.

After all, the reality appears to justify its
existence. For instance, obviously, notwithstanding a Nigerian’s moral and
professional credentials, his chances of accessing privileged opportunities that guarantee him, say, a lucrative job in the civil service, a lofty political appointment
in government or appropriate business opportunities in the private sector,
depend on the extent of the influence of his direct or indirect connections
in the corridors of power or mansions of influential power brokers. In fact, even
the degree to which he enjoys protection from injustice is equally determined accordingly.

This explains why
the overwhelming majority of Nigerians groan under social injustice and
economic hardship. Non-corrupt civil servants amongst them who are, by the way,
relatively few, struggle to survive on their relatively meager legitimate
incomes, while the majority are involved in various corrupt practices and acts
of extortion. Also, the already largely struggling self-employed and
businessmen amongst them endure the persistent frustration associated with poor
infrastructure and public services, inconsiderate government policies,
sanctioned extortions and corrupt practices of many relevant law enforcement
agents.

There is indeed a disproportionate
disparity between the vulnerable majority and the tiny “privileged” minority in
terms of access to quality education, quality healthcare, safety, security and
other indispensable services, which has given rise to an apparent class dichotomy
in the society that some Nigerians attribute to an alleged conspiracy, whereas
others believe it has simply automatically developed over the decades.

Now, it’s pertinent
to note that a systematic class dichotomy had
indeed existed particularly in precolonial northern Nigeria. Also, upon their
violent subjugation of the region, the British capitalized on it to consolidate
their colonial reign over the region. They achieved that via the introduction
of an indirect ruling system through which they directly controlled the emirs
who, in turn, controlled their respective people accordingly thereby consolidating
the British colonial rule.

Also, for obvious
strategic reasons, accesses to privileged government
positions, privileged business opportunities and other means of attaining
positions of influence in the region were practically exclusively reserved for the
descendants of the traditional ruling dynasties, their associates, friends and
loyalists to the exclusion of the rest who were derogatively referred to as the
Talakawa.

However, that
virtual monopoly of the sources of influence gradually faded away over the
subsequent decades particularly following the eventual departure of the British
from the region and the country, paving the way for the children of the
so-called Talakawa to aspire to, and indeed, attain high government positions,
and also achieve their potential in education, business and other competitive
endeavours.

Yet, many Nigerians still
argue that a systematic class dichotomy does still persist in the country,
albeit in disguise, referring to the systematic abuse of power perpetrated by
successive sets of military and civilian leaders and top government officials
in the civil service with the connivance of their accomplices in the private
sector, hence holding them exclusively responsible for the persistent
leadership failure in the country.

Nevertheless, I, for
one, don’t see it that way. Instead, I believe the era of systematic class
dichotomy has indeed ended. Nigerians who believe otherwise do apparently confuse
the endemic culture of corruption, nepotism and impunity in the country with a systematic
class dichotomy. However, inasmuch as I don’t absolve, in fact, not even
downplay the particular responsibility of successive generations of Nigerian leaders
for the country’s persistent leadership failure, I don’t limit the blame on them
exclusively, either. After all, though the children of the Talakawa from
the so-called humble backgrounds have already hugely outnumbered those from the
so-called privileged backgrounds, in the corridors of power and other spheres
of influence in the country, yet the same culture of impunity, nepotism,
systematic corruption and its attendant economic deterioration and
socio-political instability have not only persisted anyway, but have actually got
worse.

Basically, it isn’t a
question of class; rather it’s simply a question of attitude. In reality, there
is actually no attitudinal difference between the average Nigerian struggling
to survive and a typical privileged Nigerian in a position of authority. Both lack sincere of commitment to nation-building. Also,
the fact that the former is only engaged in relatively petty corrupt practices
through which he makes few hundreds or thousands of Naira doesn’t basically
make him any different from the latter who loots million or billions, for he
(i.e. former) wouldn’t hesitate to do the same or even worse, given the chance.
This, therefore, underscores the imperative of focusing on attitudinal change
in our collective quest for a real and sustainable change in the country.

Friday, February 9, 2018

The growing security concern associated with the recent escalation
of Kwankwaso-Ganduje political feud in Kano has re-highlighted the negative
phenomenon of political thuggery particularly in northern Nigeria. I focus on
northern Nigeria in this regard, because political thuggery is particularly
persistent in the region.Unlike what obtains in the south where political thugs
are largely part-timers hired by unscrupulous politicians to perpetrate
thuggery in the run-up, during and shortly after elections then simply resume
their respective hustles afterwards, it’s practically a full-time job for many in
the north, which explains why it persists and isn’t likely stop in the
foreseeable future.

As usual at every recurrence of political thuggery or worries over a
looming recurrence, there has been intense condemnation of the phenomenon
recently in Kano and across the region. Religious scholars have preached against it on
their Friday sermon pulpits. Public figures, opinion leaders and commentators on
the electronic, print and social media have all condemned it and given warnings
of its security implications on the already fragile social stability in the state
and beyond. Interestingly, even politicians and their cronies who actually
mastermind and sponsor it have publicly, albeit hypocritically, equally
condemned it.

Friday, January 26, 2018

This piece was supposed to have been written three weeks ago
following my return from vacation in Nigeria. However, I instead wrote on two
closely related issues on the two subsequent Fridays respectively following my
return.

During my stay in Nigeria, I drew same observations as every
Nigerian based elsewhere automatically does whenever he visits the country. Incidentally,
the curiosity of a typical foreign-based Nigerian about the happenings back
home outweighs that of his home-based compatriot. Many a time, the former who monitors
developments on the media turns out more up to date on important developments
in the country than the latter. Besides, the former’s curiosity is partly inspired
by the fact that he misses the country despite the enormous challenges
bedevilling it, and is partly inspired by passionate desire to see real growth back
home similar to what he sees in his country of residence.

Friday, January 19, 2018

The growing proliferation of
divisive and irreconcilable ideological tendencies in the Muslim- majority
northern Nigeria has given rise to an ideological struggle amongst various
ideological tendencies in the region. The atmosphere gets increasingly
saturated with conflicting ideological polemics representing the tendencies
involved. The struggle is particularly intense amongst the Sufits following
the two major Sufi ideological sects i.e. Qadiriyya and Tijjaniyya, Sunni-Salafists, Shiites
and the recently emerged neo-philosophers who seek to “reform” the entire
Islamic religion by adopting and promoting alternative understanding of the
religion in light of some archaic philosophies developed over the centuries but
intellectually debunked by reputable Muslim scholars then.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Being an
Arabic word transliterated into English, non-Arabic-speaking readers certainly
wonder what Ruwaibidhah means. After all, probably even core native Arabs,
let alone the Arabic-speaking non-Arabs familiar with its meaning only learned
it in the Prophetic Hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (SAW) first used it
when he prophesied that “There will come to
the people years of endemic deception, when the liar will be regarded as
honest, and the honest man will be regarded as a liar; the deceiver will be
regarded as truthful, and the truthful man will be regarded as a deceiver; and
the Ruwaibidhah will talk freely” Who
are the Ruwaibidah?’ His companions enquired. He replied ‘vile
persons (i.e. persons of little worth) talking on public affairs.” (See
Albany’s Silsilatul-Al-Ahadeeth As-Saheeha, Hadith # 1887)

Looking at the trend of public discussions on various aspects
of public affairs, I doubt if anyone doubts that the world is already living
through these years. The negative influence of the Ruwaibidah in modern-day
societies has resulted from the persistently falling standards of measuring the
worth of individuals. Obviously, the standards have been hugely compromised at
the expense of moral values enabling the Ruwaibidhah to not only attain
relevance, but also influence public attitude and, in fact, call the shots on
sensitive public matters for that matter.